


Brainwashed

by TheWriterTriad



Series: Splatoon Oneshots [7]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Agent 8 - mentioned, Brainwashing, Sanitization, spoilers for octo expansion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 16:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16268357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterTriad/pseuds/TheWriterTriad
Summary: While Agent 8 is busy escaping through the different phases of Kamabo's headquarters, Agent 3 and Cap'n Cuttlefish are preparing to make their own way out. Well, that was the plan anyway...





	Brainwashed

“Hey bucko,” Cap’n Cuttlefish said as he rapped on Agent 3’s forehead. “You still alive in there?” 

“...” 

“Come on 3, up and at em!”

“Bzzt...krk…” The telephone lying on the ground sparked and buzzed to life before falling silent once more. Cuttlefish shot it a look before returning his attention to the girl sprawled out on the ground before him. She wasn’t moving, save for the occasion twitch of her fingers. It was understandable, the teal inkling had headbutted her way through a bunch of thick glass and steel. That couldn’t have been easy on her noggin. 

“How’s our favorite knocked out agent doing, Pops?” Pearl’s voice echoed in the air, slightly staticy due to the general quality of equipment. 

“Sleeping like a lazy old tigerfish,” Cuttlefish muttered with a sigh. 

“Geez,” Marina mumbled, “just how hard did she hit her head?”

“Ugh...ow…” Agent 3 groaned before blearily opening up her beautiful cyan eyes. “Oh...my head…” 

“Agent 3!” Cuttlefish excitedly pulled the teenager into a hug, not noticing the choked expression on her face. “I thought you were done for bucko! And you saved our lives! You’re a hero, Harriet!” 

“Cap’n...please...need...air!” 

“Cuttlefish, you’re choking her,” Marina exclaimed worriedly. Her words caused the old inkling to release his young agent in a hurry. Said agent flopped over onto the ground and curled up into a ball, a raspy cough escaping her. 

“Sorry ‘bout that, bucko. Guess this old soldier got a bit too excited, eh?” 

“Yep…” Agent 3 groaned again before sitting up and looking around. Once she caught sight of the blender, the teal girl winced and rubbed her head. 

“Boy, I really did a number on that thing,” she muttered before realizing something. “Hey, wait a second, where’s that octoling that was with you?” 

“Huh? Oh, you mean Agent 8,” Cuttlefish laughed. “The lassie’s fine, Three. In fact, she’s making her way up to the surface right now. Fine cephalopod, that girl is. Why the last time I saw a young whippersnapper with that much drive was when I recruited you myself! I remember it like it was yesterday, the octarians had just attacked and-” 

“Pipe down you old fart, we don’t have time for stories!”

“...um...who is that..” Agent 3 asked, distaste evident in her voice. 

“Pearl, be more polite!” Marina sighed, causing a rush of static to fill the air. “Sorry about that. I’m Marina, and then the other girl is my friend Pearl. We’ve been helping the captain and Eight make their way to the surface.” 

“Alright, then let’s follow them.” 

“Bzzt...brzzt...blah...blah…” The telephone vibrated a little more before suddenly coming to life. “Y-you...How dare you do this you worthless cephalopods! Why are you associating with these idiotic and pathetic excuses for a self-aware species Number 10,008? You all will pay for this!” 

The phone continued to shake and vibrate until finally, it ruptured, the front breaking off to expose a weird greenish-blue goop inside of it. It looked almost like a living version of the ink that all the sanitized octarians used, a viscous and ominous liquid. A portion of it oozed out of the broken machine, falling to the ground with a plop. Agent 3 frowned, studying it with a tense look on her face. 

“Bzzt….krrkk...worthless creatures...but you’ll have to do for now…” 

With that, the gloop came to life and lunged at Agent 3. She scrambled backward, drawing her weapon and started blasting it with ink. The teal substance went flying, blasting through the greenish slime easily. Splatters of the stuff got everywhere, coating a fair bit of the ground and broken blender. Agent 3 sighed with relief and lowered her gun. 

Suddenly, inexplicably, the slime started to move again. Slowly it crawled towards the phone, reforming into a gelatinous mass. It took a minute, but eventually, it was completely restored, as if the inkling hadn’t done anything to it at all. 

“What…” Agent 3 whispered, a shocked look on her face. Almost unbidden she took a step back, wary of this foe. “How could it have survived that…” 

“Fools,” the phone hissed before the slime capitalized on Agent 3’s shock. It catapulted forward, knocking the teenager to the ground before latching onto her arm. The strange substance was cold, almost freezing, as it began crawling up her arm. Its victim tried to maneuver her gun to shoot it off, but the slime moved to her back and continued its upward march. 

“Gah...stupid gook...get off of me!” 

“Oi, telephone, what’re you doing to Agent 3?” 

“You’ll see…bzzt…” 

Three continued to try and remove the offending substance from her body, but to no avail. Soon it crawled up the back of her neck and head, the slimy feeling causing the girl to wrinkle her nose in disgust. It clamped down on top of her head, covering the agent's headphones and eyes. Desperately the teen clawed at the substance, trying to tear it off of her face. 

“Behave you insolent pest,” the telephone commanded. “You follow my orders now.” 

“Ngh...n-no…” Three grit her teeth, trying to ignore the strange sensations that were starting to assault her brain. Whispers invaded her mind, telling her to just give up and give in. She couldn’t win this fight against Tartar, so why bother struggling? It was a pointless, pathetic endeavor. Why not just go peacefully and be a good little puppet for her master? Now that sounded good...no wait it didn’t. Why was she thinking this? What was going on in her head? Who was Tartar? Was she going crazy? No, she wasn’t it was the goop it had to be. But still, everything was so confusing. Her head was starting to ache from the relentless assault, maybe it would be better to just stop fighting? Maybe he wouldn’t be so hard on her if she stopped resisting. It was doubtful but at the same time what did she have to lose? Her autonomy...but really was that even worth anything anymore? No, it wasn’t. 

Slowly, Three’s hands dropped to the ground, no longer clawing and scratching at the gooey slime stuck to her head. Mental barriers crumbled into nothingness as inside Tartar’s influence swept in, pushing all thoughts of resistance aside. Quickly the sentient AI began hijacking the teenager’s brain, rewiring her into a mindless soldier. The goop slowly crawled off of her face, fashioning itself into a small tentacle-like protrusion so the now mindless soldier could see. Cuttlefish paled as Agent 3 looked at him, her once lively eyes now glazed over and blank. 

“Heh heh heh...bzzt…” the telephone crackled in laughter. “Good...tie him up.” 

Agent 3 blinked once before rushing forward, lightning fast. Cuttlefish tried to get away but his creaky old bones were no match for a girl filled with the vigor of youth. His former ally tackled him to the ground, pinning him violently. Pulling out some rope the brainwashed teen began trussing the Cap’n up. Once she deemed him - or rather, once Tartar deemed him - sufficiently restrained the girl stepped back, awaiting her next order. Her master looked on approvingly. 

“Even though your species is a pathetic lot, you at least have some value,” he muttered as a ufo shaped craft swooped out of the darkness. A sanitized octoling was riding on the machine, though she hopped off as it neared the ground. 

“Now then, you...Agent 3, was it? Not a very creative code name but it’ll have to do,” Tartar grumbled. “Tie this old inkling here to the ufo and then go stop Number 10,008. She must not be allowed to reach the surface. As for you, Number 987, take me to the NILS control room. The time has come for our final plan to be set in motion.” 

Both brainwashed cephalopods nodded before the octoling picked up Tartar’s phone and walked off into the darkness. Agent 3, on the other hand, turned towards Cuttlefish. Dragging him over to the aircraft, she roughly tied him to the bottom before leaping atop the transportation device. Thanks to Tartar’s brainwashing she knew how to pilot the craft, and soon the pair was flying off into the darkness above.

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone caught it, the quote "You're a hero, Harriet!" is a play on the quote "You're a wizard, Harry!" from the Harry Potter books. 
> 
> Also, I like the Octo Expansion from an author's perspective way too much. There's so much potential fanfic material in there.


End file.
